Online sex stings attract sexual predators from other areas
TASK FORCE MEMBERS
Area law enforcement agencies in the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force include:
-- Edgerton Police Department
-- Janesville Police Department
-- Jefferson Police Department
-- Lake Geneva Police Department
-- Lake Mills Police Department
-- Milton Police Department
-- Whitewater Police Department
JANESVILLE — Law enforcement agencies defend their use of time and money to catch online sexual predators, even if they’re luring offenders from outside southern Wisconsin to local communities.
The Milton Police Department on May 2 arrested a Madison man suspected of driving to Milton to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old Milton girl.
The man was arrested and charged in Rock County after Milton police conducted an online sting. Local taxpayers will pay for the man’s prosecution and possible jail time.
The arrest stems from the Milton Police Department’s membership in the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a program touted by the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office.
Jerry Schuetz, Milton police chief, said police used to patrol parks and schools, but now they have to patrol the Internet.
“We want to make it known that Internet predators are not safe there,” Schuetz said. “We want the Internet to be a safe place for kids and families.”
Law enforcement agencies have jurisdictional challenges with online sex stings, he said, but the time and money spent to protect local children is worth it.
The goal is to let sexual predators know if they come to Milton to meet a child, they could be meeting a cop, Schuetz said.
The guideline for whether it’s worth the time for his investigators to target online sexual predators is if the offender is willing to travel to Milton, he said.
If they are, a formal investigation is launched, Schuetz said.
The idea is to be proactive and stop them, rather than wait for a child to get sexually assaulted, Schuetz said.
Dave Moore, Janesville police chief, said his police department is part of the task force.
He wouldn’t comment on any ongoing investigation, but he said his department targets offenders who live in the area.
Janesville investigators focus on offenders in Janesville, Rock County or just outside the area, Moore said. They’re not interested in bringing in offenders from far-away places.
The expense of targeting out-of-state offenders is great considering they’re not a big threat to local children, he said.
Local investigators, however, can target out-of-state predators if federal money supports the cost of prosecuting and incarcerating those offenders, he said.
“If you were to take on offenders throughout the United States, I don’t’ think there is any end to the investigation or the cost of the investigation,” Moore said.
Todd Christiansen, Rock County sheriff’s captain, said the sheriff’s office is discussing whether to join the task force.
Sheriff’s investigators are trained to catch online predators, but they are not actively conducting such cases, he said.
“If they’re willing to come to our community, and we’re able to catch them and prosecute them, I think we should be doing it,” Christiansen said.
If predators won’t travel here, investigators should focus elsewhere, he said.
“It takes a lot of resources and time,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we haven’t started (online investigations) yet. With the amount of work we have, we haven’t had time.”
J.B. Van Hollen, the Wisconsin attorney general, said the goal of the program is to protect children.
If more agencies join the task force, they can cooperate across jurisdictional boundaries and take pedophiles off the street, he said. The task force encourages a universal approach.
The money used to conduct the investigations is worth it, Van Hollen said, and law enforcement agencies should be willing to arrest offenders from anywhere.
In the Milton case, the police department took a Madison offender off the streets, he said. Next time, the Madison Police Department might arrest a Milton offender.
The task force encourages cooperation, Van Hollen said, and no community is immune to the problem.
“The odds are the same crime could happen in reverse next time,” he said.
STATE TASK FORCE
Law enforcement agencies in the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force get training and equipment for online investigations targeting sexual predators.
The task force has existed for 10 years, and 83 agencies are members, according to the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office.
The task force has led to the arrests of 540 suspects and the execution of 647 search warrants, according to the attorney general’s office.
The state is aware of more than 22,300 Internet addresses distributing child pornography, according to the attorney general’s office.
One in seven children are sexually solicited online, according to the attorney general’s office.
TASK FORCE MEMBERS
Area law enforcement agencies in the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force include:
May 15, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.
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JimPI is absolutely correct. As you are aware kids don't always make the correct choice.
May 12, 2009 at 12:09 a.m.
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whoanellie, someone needs to tell your brothers neighbor to encrypt his wireless if your niece figured out how to use someone elses unprotected wireless.
May 11, 2009 at 4:35 p.m.
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You people are getting off topic. The people breaking the law are the pedophiles who are going after our children. I will gladly pay extra taxes for this police division. Lock up the people breaking the law. And yes you should monitor your children’s activities but does that mean that we should not lock up the people who are going after our children also. Fight at both ends teach your children and lock up the bad guys, it seems pretty straight forward. Good job Milton PD.
May 11, 2009 at 3:44 p.m.
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the child had a limit of so much time on the computer- that is the trust. so broke that trust by getting on it using neighbors stuff. i say lock it up or have a room for just computers and lock the door. she had her chance and broke the law now she needs to suffer w/o computer and possible locks becuase of sneeking around. nothing wrong with that.
May 11, 2009 at 12:56 p.m.
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whoanellie wrote: in order for us to trust our children we must first show trust, then if they violate it then come down on them which is just what my brother did. Why should we have to treat them that way first? It should be the criminals who get in trouble.
Just like we have to do with locking up poisons in the home when the kids are little. Or not allowing them to cross the road alone when they are little. Sometimes the parent has to be PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE.
May 11, 2009 at 11:55 a.m.
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That's probably true diplomat but who ever thought we'd have to resort to treating our kids like criminals instead of catching these lowlifes and putting them away??!! in order for us to trust our children we must first show trust, then if they violate it then come down on them which is just what my brother did. Why should we have to treat them that way first? It should be the criminals who get in trouble.
May 11, 2009 at 9:07 a.m.
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whoanellie,
Saying kids are so savy and I can't combat against that is not an excuse. It means doing some extra homework to boost your skills. You can lock down a computer so kids can't install or manipulate settings (including networking).
May 11, 2009 at 9 a.m.
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I agree with gmaof3! My brother put a time limit on the computer for his kids, you know one that shuts it down and won't let them back on till the next time? Well my neice found out how to hook up with the neighbors wireless and got on after her parents went to bed!! He only found out because he got up in the middle of the night and caught her!! How are we supposed to fight against that?? kids are so computer savvy and we are not. I say put my tax money towards finding these predators and forget the bike tunnel, childrens museums, and Ice rinks!!!
May 11, 2009 at 7:42 a.m.
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gmao- Ditto! The sad fact is--government is guaranteed to waste your money. Seems like the best you can hope for is that at least a handful of worthwhile programs get funded.
May 11, 2009 at 6:39 a.m.
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But the media is doing its part to be sure these creeps make headlines. It will give pause to those considering leaving the privacy of "their own backyard" to travel to another community to harm a child.
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I WANT Milton and the surrounding communities to have THAT reputation of aggressive sting operations regarding child protection!!!
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I would prefer my tax dollars pay for these types of activities, instead of building bike tunnels or repairing ice rinks or any of the other asinine things on the bureaucratic government tables.
May 10, 2009 at 11:16 p.m.
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Also I have an issue with Van Hollen's comment about "The odds are the same crime could happen in reverse next time”
No - the odds are not the same! There are 45 times more people in Madison than Milton! The laws of statistics would say there are probably more sexual predators in larger cities than smaller towns too... so no, the odds are Milton will be capturing many more predators Madison than Madison would be from Milton.
Are the folks in Milton ready to pay the tax bill when the Pied Piper comes calling?
May 10, 2009 at 10:59 p.m.
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Jerry Schuetz needs a reality check if he thinks he's making a dent in the number of online predators that pose a threat to the children in our area. It sure makes for a feel-good newspaper story though.
You can catch a few of them using these tactics - but just like you'll never eliminate crime from our streets, you'll never eliminate it from the internet. You just don't have the resources or jurisdiction to capture every pedophile on the internet.
I applaud your work, but I feel the money spent on capturing and incarcerating these scum would better be spent on educating the targets and their parents. Let the FBI take care of the stings, prosecutions, and incarcerations.
With that in mind - then the only way I can keep my children safe is if I'm around when they're online to ensure they're using it correctly and safely. When I'm not - they're offline. There is absolutely no software, hardware, or service you can buy that will do your job for you.
May 10, 2009 at 10:39 p.m.
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The generations are being more and more disconnected as time goes by and technology advances. The human element has been removed from our society and replaced with the synthetically formed relationships. Synthetic is never as healthy as natural. We are in the age of the disconnected generations for sure.
May 10, 2009 at 10:12 p.m.
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I believe these stings are a great thing! I could care less from what State these freaks are hooked from.. If they are sicko enough to drive from another jurisdiction... To bad for them.. good for us they are off the streets of any town, USA. For the bleeding hearts who want to cry foul for these predators.. I say, "My heart bleeds for the children that these freaks of nature mess up." Good Job Milton PD.. Keep it up & maybe other PD's around here will take notice, & do the same.
All's fair in the cat & mouse game, & anything the Police can do to take these pedophiles off the stree.. more power to em..
May 10, 2009 at 8:15 p.m.
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just now realizing this???
May 10, 2009 at 7:47 p.m.
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It is literally impossible to make the internet "safe for minors". It may be possible to make it somewhat safer, but the ultimate responsibility will always have to be with the parents. Locking children out of technology is a cartoon (Sunday's Zits was good) -- they usually know their way around better than the parents, even at a pretty young age. But children who communicate with their parents about their activities online are much less likely to fall victim to this or any other danger.
May 10, 2009 at 7:40 p.m.
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I will gladly pay for this service , I have children and fear of this crap no matter how much you dafegaurd the computer kids will get online
May 10, 2009 at 4:49 p.m.
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"We have to make sure that the internet is a safe place for children. . . . " No, we don't. We have to make sure that the streets and our homes are safe places for children, but the internet has a number of uses, some of them explicitly not for people under 18. Adults need to supervise minors on the internet. (Of course, lest I be accused of blaming parents, I should say that I think parents are doing an adequate job protecting their children. After all, we only hear of police stings, not of actual crimes that are committed from internet hook-ups.)
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